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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered online content related to World War II nurse Ruby Bradley removed and President Donald Trump called her a loser.
We are only able to verify public information. There is no public record of Trump making such a comment and the Department of Defense confirmed via email in May 2025 that “the department is not taking down content related to Ruby Bradley.”
In October 2025, a rumor that began months earlier (archived, archived, archived) reignited (archived) online. Users claimed that the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) removed content related to Ruby Bradley — a highly decorated nurse who served in World War II — from the agency’s online platforms and U.S. President Donald Trump called her a “loser.”
Dozens of Snopes readers searched the site to learn whether the claims were true or false.
Bradley, who spent 37 months as a prisoner of war during her service, received 34 medals for her service during WWII and the Korean War.
One post linked to a Substack article that is no longer available, which may have been the source of the claim.
The rumor came in the wake of Trump’s executive order to eliminate programs associated with Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) from the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security; government officials either deleted, deleted and then restored or deleted and then restored with edits numerous webpages on history the U.S. government previously featured.
None of the posts linked above provided a source or evidence, and no reputable news source reported on such a removal or that Trump called Bradley a “loser.” Google search results for Trump’s alleged comment at the time of this writing show only the repeated claim on social media or articles debunking the claim, and “Ruby Bradley“ on Trump’s Truth Social account yields no results (archived).
We reached out to the DOD when the rumor first surfaced in May 2025, and the department responded via email, “The department is not taking down content related to Ruby Bradley.“
The rumor likely stems from both alleged and verified comments Trump has made in the past referring to veterans as “losers,“ including the late senator John McCain. “He’s not a war hero. He is a war hero ’cause he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured,“ Trump said in 2008 (minute 5:52).
Sources
‘Did Donald Trump Call Ruby Bradley A “Loser,” Delete Her Service Record? Fact Check’. Times Now, 5 May 2025, https://www.timesnownews.com/world/us/us-news/did-donald-trump-call-ruby-bradley-a-loser-delete-her-service-record-fact-check-article-151562836.
‘Fact Check: Did Trump Call Legendary US Army Nurse Ruby Bradley a “loser” and Delete Her Service Record?’ MEAWW News, https://news.meaww.com/fact-check-did-trump-call-legendary-us-army-nurse-ruby-bradley-a-loser-and-delete-her-service-record. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Office of Medical History – Ruby G. Bradley, Colonel, U.S. Army Nurse Corps. 8 Nov. 2017, https://web.archive.org/web/20171108093816/http://history.amedd.army.mil/ancwebsite/bradley/bradley.html.
PerryCook, Taija. ‘A Running List of Trump’s Executive Orders’. Snopes, 5 Mar. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//tracker/trump-executive-orders-list/.
Posts About Removal Of Ruby Bradley’s Service History: What We Know | Lead Stories. 5 May 2025, https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/05/posts-about-removal-of-ruby-bradleys-service-history-what-we-know.html.
Presidential Candidate Donald Trump at the Family Leadership Summit | Video | C-SPAN.Org. https://www.c-span.org/program/campaign-2016/presidential-candidate-donald-trump-at-the-family-leadership-summit/407791. Accessed 5 May 2025.
‘Restoring America’s Fighting Force’. The White House, 28 Jan. 2025, https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/restoring-americas-fighting-force/.
Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ – The Atlantic. 1 Apr. 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20230401023100/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/trump-americans-who-died-at-war-are-losers-and-suckers/615997/.
‘Trump’s Truth’. Trump’s Truth, https://trumpstruth.org/search?query=ruby%20bradley. Accessed 5 May 2025.
Wazer, Caroline. ’15 Rumors We’ve Investigated about Trump Administration’s Changes to Government Websites’. Snopes, 25 Mar. 2025, https://www.snopes.com//collections/trump-government-websites-dei/.
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Taija PerryCook
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